Last weekend during Pitt's homecoming festivities, Novogratz and six other former Panthers were presented with awards of distinction from the school.

Since 1961, the Pitt Varsity Letter Club has honored those who have distinguished themselves in their profession or community and who, by their accomplishments, have enhanced the value of the intercollegiate athletic program. To be eligible, a nominee must have earned a varsity letter from Pitt 25 or more years ago.

After playing for the Konkrete Kids and legendary head coach Al Erdosy, Novogratz graduated in 1961 and spent a year at Bordentown Military Academy in New Jersey where one of his teammates was running back Floyd Little, who went on to play for Syracuse and the Denver Broncos.

At Pitt, Novogratz played linebacker and received honorable mention All-America as a senior. He was selected to play in the East-West Shrine Game and the Hula Bowl.

He graduated in 1966 with a degree in economics and political science and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers and traded to the Minnesota Vikings, where he spent a season on the taxi squad before his career was cut short by a broken leg suffered in a skiing accident.

Novogratz settled in the Minneapolis area, where he raised his family and in 1979 started his own company, Insulation Distributors Inc., a wholesale distributor of residential and commercial insulation. Novogratz still is president and CEO. The company has 180 employees in 33 locations across the U.S., including the Lehigh Valley.

In addition to work in his community coaching, volunteering and raising funds for outreach programs, Novogratz funds two football scholarships, one at the University of Pittsburgh and one at Northampton.

In 2007, Novogratz was inducted into the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame and the Northampton Athletic Hall of Fame. With that induction, he joined his late brother Ed (Moravian College, Class of 1953) and brother Bob (Army, Class of 1959) in the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame.

Thanks to Jack for letting us know about a nice honor for one of our Lehigh Valley football greats.

Show me the money showcase: For the sixth year, Toomey Anderson's LVBasketballRankings.Com organization is running an event to give our area's rising high school boys basketball players an opportunity to showcase themselves to college coaches and scouts. The event is set to run 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at Allen High's Sewards Gym.

The event is open to varsity players only.

The players will rotate through various aspects of the showcase in a combine setting that will provide accurate data on height, weight, wing span, vertical leap and speed testing. Players will be educated on NCAA requirements and eligibility, nutrition and yoga techniques. Full and half court games will be the final component.

Talent has been invited from the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, the Poconos, Reading, New Jersey, New York and Delaware.

Former Villanova player Chuck Kornegay will be the main speaker and Velocity Sports Performance will conduct the combine.

The cost is $50. For more information, call 484-201-6530.

C.A.G.E. contributes: Allen basketball assistant Randy Atiyeh will be involved in the showcase on Sunday and he passed along this information concerning the C.A.G.E. slo-pitch softball league.

That's the league that plays every summer Sunday at Scherersville and is named in honor of the late Chris Attieh and George Elias, a pair of Whitehall High graduates and good friends, who left us much too soon.

Last month Albert and Hweida Attieh, Chris' parents, were in Syria and made a trip to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Support Organization. It's an organization that helps support children and families with relief care. Support is needed more than ever during this time as families all across Syria are facing painful struggles as terrorism attacks have rocked the country.

Last June, donations at the fourth annual Chris Attieh Foundation Memorial Softball Tournament helped to raise $5,000 to go for the care of children in Syria. More than 100 kids were given school supplies, families were provided home necessities, and perhaps more importantly, they were shown care and compassion in a time of immense strife.

Kudos to the Chris Attieh Foundation and the folks involved with the C.A.G.E. league for using sports to help make an impact on people in dire need.

Catty rough for foes: The Catasauqua Youth Athletic Association 90-pound football team completed an 11-0 season Sunday with a 15-12 win over Wilson in the Colonial League title game. The little Roughies, who hadn't been scored on through their first 10 games, ended up outscoring foes 279-12.